Liverpool to fly past Atletico at Anfield
Liverpool need to overturn a deficit as they face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 game at Anfield on Wednesday. Can they produce another night of European magic? Have a read of our preview here:
Champions don’t panic
There will be no panicking coming from the Liverpool camp ahead of this decisive Champions League match. Despite falling to a shock 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Madrid, the Red know they have an uncanny ability to turn things around at Anfield.
They failed to register a single shot on target at the Wanda Metropolitano, but Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to the home leg, knowing the crowd will be right behind them.
"The crowd wanted to help their team tonight. That makes it a very emotional game,” he said after the defeat in Madrid.
"Emotions are important. Tonight they were obviously completely on the side of Atletico but I am really looking forward to the second leg."
You can certainly expect Liverpool to go full-throttle, something they have been exceptionally good at during the last couple of seasons.
The best form of defence is attack
There is no point in Atletico trying to sit on their one-goal lead. This is a recipe for disaster when playing Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have won every single Premier League game played at home this season and although the defeat to Watford proved they are still human; nothing can take away from how good they have been at Anfield this season.
Atleti need to produce a display to match Liverpool’s energy, something that will decide the outcome of this game. The Reds are relentless in their pressing and have overcome some of the best sides in world football in recent years, including Barcelona in last year’s semi-final, so Diego Simeone’s men will be in for a tough night.
Saul will be a key man again for the Spanish outfit. His early goal was enough two weeks ago, making him only the second player in Atletico Madrid’s history to score 10 or more goals in the Champions League after Antoine Griezmann. You sense the away side will need a goal, and so he will be an important figure again.
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid betting tip
Liverpool will be going for it and we know what this means. It will be an open, high tempo, end-to-end game which will likely see plenty of chances and, more importantly, goals. That’s why we are predicting this one to finish with over 3.5 goals at odds of 13/5 with Betfair.
